Hong Kong sales of non-exchange-traded investment products surged 63% year on year to a record HK$9.9 trillion in 2025, according to ETNet. The annual joint survey by the Securities and Futures Commission and the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said the increase was driven by record market participation and strong demand for fixed income, currency and commodity-related products. The number of clients and firms participating in the market also hit record highs. Clients completing at least one non-exchange-traded investment product transaction rose 33% to more than 1.6 million, while the number of licensed corporations and registered institutions selling such products increased 9% to 452. The number of large firms climbed 27% to 128. Collective investment schemes and structured products drove the record sales, rising 85% and 53%, respectively. Collective investment schemes overtook structured products for the first time since 2020 to become the best-selling product category. Among the top five collective investment schemes reported by large firms, money market funds accounted for 88% of sales, up from 80% in 2024. Sales of currency-linked products also rose 50% to HK$698 billion. Debt securities sales were 43% higher than in 2022, led by sovereign bonds, up 138%, and investment-grade corporate bonds, up 43%.

According to Reuters, Yonhap and HKET, Asian equities were mixed at midday Tuesday, with Seoul outpacing the region on strength in memory-chip names while Hong Kong technology shares lagged. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 held modest gains, trading at 66,526.13, up 126.29 points or 0.19% as of 04:32 UTC. Chip-equipment maker Advantest added 2.90% and Tokyo Electron was little changed at -0.13%, while Sony fell 2.54%. Japan reported July real wages rose 2.4%, the biggest gain since 2021. Seoul's KOSPI led regional gains, trading at 7,159.09, up 163.70 points or 2.34% as of 04:32 UTC, driven by memory names. SK Hynix rose 5.83% to 1,887,000 won and Samsung Electronics gained 3.33% to 279,000 won. South Korea's exports have already surpassed a full-year record, reaching $709.4 billion year-to-date. Hong Kong stocks eased at the lunch break, with the Hang Seng down 67 points at 25,345.57 (-0.27%) on turnover of HK$104.98 billion, and the Hang Seng Tech Index off 1.10%. Lenovo fell more than 5%, Xiaomi lost over 2%, and AI plays Zhipu and MINIMAX dropped about 8% and 6% respectively. Oil majors advanced 2%-3% and mainland developers firmed, with Longfor up about 4%; the CSOP SK Hynix Daily Max (2x) Leveraged Product climbed more than 12%. Data-storage firm Longsys made a tepid Hong Kong debut, slipping 0.68% below its issue price. Taiwan's TAIEX slipped to 47,224.46, down 101.81 points or 0.22% as of 04:32 UTC, with heavyweight TSMC up 0.61% at NT$2,475. Panel maker AU Optronics rose more than 5% at one point on heavy turnover, though analyst Wang Chao-li said the move was theme-driven, tied to a one-off gain from an asset sale rather than a fundamental shift. In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite edged up 14.29 points or 0.36% to 3,946.99 at the midday break, with agriculture shares leading. China's August exports surged on high-tech and AI demand, Reuters reported.

According to Jin10, Iranian media says International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi is optimistic about his bid for United Nations secretary-general and said a preliminary survey of candidates may be conducted again in the coming weeks.

According to Jin10, Morgan Stanley and Nomura both expect August core CPI to remain mild and believe several straight months of inflation improvement are enough to support holding rates steady in September, while Deutsche Bank emphasizes labor-market resilience and sticky inflation and continues to bet on a rate hike.

According to the BBC, three men have gone on trial in Mexico over the alleged murders of Australian brothers Callum Robinson and Jake Robinson and their American friend Carter Rhoad in 2024. Prosecutors are seeking prison terms of more than 200 years for the defendants, who also face charges of violent robbery and auto theft. The bodies of the three men, all in their early 30s, were found at the bottom of a well with gunshot wounds to the head days after they disappeared during a surf trip in Baja California. The trial, which is being heard by a judge without a jury, is expected to last four weeks and include dozens of witnesses. The defendants are Jesús "El Kekas" Gerardo, Irineo Francisco and Ángel Jesús. Prosecutors say the killings followed a botched robbery, while the defense says there is not enough evidence to support that claim.

According to the BBC, the UK government is expected to announce new restrictions on buying goods made in Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, with Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband due to outline the measures in the Commons on Tuesday. The plans could include limits on trade in agricultural products from settlements and may also cover goods and services, according to Labour MPs briefed on the proposal. The Israeli government has previously warned it would retaliate if new measures were introduced. The expected announcement comes after Israel opened tenders for about 1,200 settlement homes in the E1 area east of Jerusalem, a move that drew widespread international condemnation. Miliband said last week he would unveil a "comprehensive reset" of British policy on Israel, and Prime Minister Andy Burnham told Labour MPs on Monday night that Miliband would make the statement.

Sweden's Tax Agency has issued about $56.5 million in back taxes and penalties to six crypto mining firms in the city of Boden, accusing them of using complex corporate structures to disguise mining operations and improperly claim data center tax breaks. According to ChainCatcher, the enforcement action stems from an industry-wide audit covering 2024 to 2026. Nationwide, nine mining firms were ordered to repay more than $50 million in taxes, with the six Boden companies accounting for most of the total. Hive Digital's subsidiary Bikupan Datacenter has begun financial restructuring after saying it cannot pay the tax bill, and it has appealed the ruling to the Supreme Administrative Court. Public broadcaster SVT Norrbotten previously reported that crypto mining companies have cost the Swedish government about $100 million in tax revenue.

Priority recipients include water utilities, electricity providers, state and local governments, community banks, nonprofits and open-source maintainers

The Philippines is tightening its grip on the crypto industry again, with the country’s central bank imposing stricter standards for token listings and effectively shutting privacy coins out of compliant local exchanges.

RWA, DeFi, Crypto Funds, Blockchain, Debonded Funds: Splitting the Model, Funds, and Computing Power Machines (Jinse Finance) – This involves separating the model, funds, and computing power machines.

Liquid Network recovered 3,400 BTC worth about $269.2 million after hackers exploited a vulnerability and drained 4,000 BTC. The attackers kept around 598.5 BTC worth about $47 million, leaving Liquid’s services paused and questions over the remaining funds.

Artificial intelligence, chips, computing power, and Moore's Thread cannot avoid the "unrestricted share release wave." Golden Finance reports that the "unrestricted share release" has become an unavoidable hurdle for Moore's Thread.

Why did Biden's son launch Meme Coin? What's the scheming behind it? Golden Finance: This is a meticulously planned move, not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

In the current mainstream narrative, it seems difficult to find a closed loop that allows SOL to directly increase in value.

Hunter Biden, son of Joe Biden, announced the launch of his meme coin, LAPTOP, scheduled to go live on Coinbase’s Layer 2 network Base on September 9.

The "outsourcing trap" of the FDE model and the flywheel impasse: a life-or-death race for asset accumulation.

A cross-analysis from the OpenAI sandbox breakthrough to stablecoin legislation and bank tokenized deposits.